Aquarium Advice

[skycruiser56]

Hello, fellow members of aquarium advice dot com. Thank you in advance for your hospitality. I have a quick question. My 29-gallon aqueon community aquarium has 5 black skirt tetras, 5 albino Cory cats, 8 white mountain cloud minnows and 2 golden panda mollies. I say this because I need a little advice about cleaning out the filter in my aquarium. My two quality filters are a small sponge filter and an aqueon hang on back filter modified with bio balls and extra filter sponge media. The sponge filter is fine, but the hang on back has become clogged with slime, and it needs to be rinsed. my concern is that while rinsing out the filter media from the HOB, I might lose all the beneficial bacteria in it, and cause a crash in the beneficial bacteria. My real question is, once I rinse all the slime off of the filter media and get the HOB up and running again, is it recommended to add a dose of beneficial bacteria into the tank, to get the system running again? Will adding beneficial bacteria to the tank while the fish are still in it harm the fish? TL;DR I apologize for such a long post, but I didn't feel like I could fully express my concern in fewer words. Thank you for your understanding, and help.

 

[SaraB]

Try cleaning it in a bucket with water from your aquarium.

 

[King Fisher]

It should be fine. Use dechlorinated water or tank water in a bucket to clean it up.